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1—Stars over Germany
[1990s]

2—Octoberfest—1970
[Munich, West Germany]

3—Black Forest Cast
[Bravura’s-deep; l970]

4—A Lazy Day in Augsburg
[West Germany#1970]

5—Wakening of the Mosel
[In the Valley of the Mosel/1976]

1. Stars over Germany

Ah! When ere, long I watched
Your stars reach
From east to west; now
I, as ye (saw)—enmeshed in a day,
(From darkness come light?)
Your wings become one?—

Come! The ancient flame waits
The exiled—land, once your cast
(Homesick) all is now one Germany!...
#1176 2/6/2006

Note: Perhaps this poem is long overdue, but one can only write poetry when it is clear that it is time.

Germany, remains precious within my being, I lived there for four and half years, in the 1970s; it is a most wondrous and beautiful land, with a medieval delightful touch.

I am very proud they found a way to unite east and west, to become one Germany.

2. Octoberfest—1970

O Munich, Munich! Evermore—,
To hear the dancing, and bronze horns!
(Once more…)
The flavored birch beer, pleasing to thy heart!
I dream of your Octoberfest—, cast;
To wake and know thy presence is
O’ so near—
Thou twilight of your affect, upon thy eyes,
And thoughts, shapes my soul,
Endlessly…!

Note: the author attended the 1970 Octoberfest in Germany, it was perhaps one of the few highlights of his first visit, and stay in Germany, of which was for ten-months.

3. Black Forest Cast [Bavaria’s Deep]

Wherewith beauty is’s cast:
In the ‘Black Forest,’ of Bavaria;
Wherein, the sunlit tender sky,
Beams the light within the
Winters gleam, —
Penetrating the forests white
Beauty fashioned—far and near:
Here, yes—here is where beauty’s
Cast…!

In the 1970s, the author was in the wintry snow, within the Black Forest, with a few friends—whom got stuck with their VW (several times) and felt lucky they made it out and back to Augsburg, with no frozen parts to their bodies. #1177 2/6/06

4. A Lazy Day in Augsburg [West Germany—1970]

Now in the forenoon, here I lie
(No work, no place to go)
Against a big oak tree I rest:
Where still: the green grass grows.

Here! The warm blue sky
Looks down on me—,
Doubtless, she’s jealous today,
But nonetheless, she doesn’t protest,
She just weaves her golden
Rays—to me!

Notes: The author spent much time in Augsburg, Germany, as an American Soldier, in the l970s, and he remembers this moment from a picture he had, and gave it to his son, whom joined the Army Rangers, and likewise, sent his father a picture of him, doing the same thing (sitting back by a tree with his green fatigues on) but with a smirky-smile (Cody); Cody also went to the Octoberfest but 20-years after his father; when he was in the US Army.

5. Wakening of the Mosel (The Valley and River 1976)

Of orchards fresh and mild—
I roamed the unforgotten
Mosel Valley;
How fair the wine vinegars were!
How refreshing the long-valley
Breeze!
The hum of the river and bees.

The view o’er the mountain
I bent to look…
All-innocent, with love and fate, —
With memories I cannot fathom
Now—
And words indiscreet!

Note: among the many places Dennis visited during his two stays in Germany, the Mosel Valley, its river and castles were among the greatest highlights. It is seldom a poet can go back to the moment to capture the event. It took Dennis 30-years to write the 12-poems he did on Vietnam, and when he wrote them, it was in less than a week. Here again, is that magical moment in his poems on Germany, 36-years ago.

See Dennis' web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com See his new book out: poetry on Minnesota